Massive fuel-depot fire breaks out in Brazil
Baku, May 24 (AZERTAC). A massive fire broke out Thursday at a fuel depot on the northern outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, sending bright orange flames leaping high into the air and thick black smoking rolling upward and enveloping the area.
Firefighters said in an emailed statement that no injuries had been reported yet. They evacuated a two-block area around the blaze. There was no word on a possible cause.
About an hour after the fire broke out, it began to spread from the six fuel storage tanks that initially caught fire. Residents of the area told Globo TV that they heard loud explosions before the blaze started.
Television images showed a firefighter coming to the aid of an elderly woman using a walker. Minutes later, a gas tanker truck caught fire nearby.
Firefighters were unable to get within a block of the blaze; its intense heat kept them at bay. Water from two fire trucks arched through the smoke in a mostly futile attempt to control the flames as police helicopters buzzed nearby.
One person was killed in a spectacular fire that broke out in a fuel depot on the northern edge of Rio de Janeiro and spread to nearby homes, officials said.
Six giant fuel containers at the storage site caught fire, sending giant flames up to 50 meters (165 feet) leaping into the air and columns of thick smoke far into the sky that could be seen miles away.
The victim was a 43 year-old man who worked at the site, owned by Petrogold fuel distributors. He was rushed to the hospital with 90 percent of his body burned but died soon after, local media reported.
The fire broke out just after 1100 am (1400 GMT), and about an hour later spread to the nearby homes.
Firefighters cleared out a four-block radius around the fuel depot, located in Duque de Caxias on the northern edge of metropolitan Rio. There were homes and a school within the evacuated area, said deputy Civil Defense secretary Jerry Pires.
Duque de Caxias Mayor Alexandre Cardoso ordered an investigation.
Other news in this section
